1st International Cuban Art Awards to be presented at 12th Havana Biennial

Event to take place at Wifredo Lam Center on May 20, 2015

NEW YORK, April 20 – The Howard and Patricia Farber Foundation today announced that the first international Cuban Art Awards will be presented in Havana as part of the 12th Havana Biennial.

The presentation will take place at the Wifredo Lam Center of Contemporary Art, the institution responsible for organizing the 12th Havana Biennial. With the support of the Wifredo Lam Center, the 12th Havana Biennial, and the National Council on the Visual Arts (CNAP), the Farber Foundation will announce the award winners at this invitation-only event, which is part of the official Biennial program.

"As the relationship between Cuba and the US has begun to thaw, we've seen the Cuban Art Awards transform from an effort by one foundation into an international project," said Farber Foundation president Howard Farber. "I'm thrilled that they've become part of the cultural exchange that's unfolding in this new diplomatic environment."

Two awards will be presented: Artist of the Year, for a contemporary artist (or collaborative) who has demonstrated exceptional creative power over the past two years; and Young Artist of the Year, for a contemporary artist (or collaborative) under the age of 35 who has demonstrated exceptional creative power over the past two years.

The Cuban Art Awards are open to Cuban artists living on the island and elsewhere. The Artist of the Year award carries a cash prize of $10,000; the cash prize for Young Artist of the Year is $3,000.

Artists were selected for consideration by a team of anonymous nominators. A short list of their highest-ranked finalists was submitted to jurors for the final selection. Nominators and jurors were drawn from an international pool of scholars, curators, collectors, critics, and writers specializing in Cuban contemporary art, in Cuba and abroad.

"One of the primary goals of the Cuban Art Awards is to advance the awareness of Cuban art in an international context," says Howard Farber. "To present the awards as part of this Biennial, when a record number of art-world visitors are headed to Havana, can only increase the contribution that it will make toward that objective. The Farber Foundation is very appreciative of the opportunity."

Due to limited capacity, the awards presentation at the Lam Center is by invitation only.

Established in 2010, the Howard and Patricia Farber Foundation is a private nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status. The Foundation sponsors the bilingual nonprofit website Cuban Art News, which debuted in late 2009 and covers Cuban art and culture worldwide, reaching audiences in 171 countries.